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Winchester, Massachusetts
Town
Winchester Town Hall
Seal
Location in Middlesex County in Massachusetts
Coordinates: 42°27′08″N 71°08′15″W / 42.45222°N 71.13750°W / 42.45222; -71.13750
Country	United States
State	Massachusetts
County	Middlesex
Region	New England
Settled	1640
Incorporated	1850
Named after	William P. Winchester
Government
• Type	Representative town meeting
• Town  Manager	Christopher Senior
Area
• Total	6.3 sq mi (16.3 km)
• Land	6.0 sq mi (15.6 km)
• Water	0.23 sq mi (0.6 km)
Elevation	62 ft (19 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	22,970
• Density	3,813/sq mi (1,472.4/km)
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (Eastern)
ZIP code	01890
Area code	339 / 781
FIPS code	25-80510
GNIS feature ID	0618247
Website	winchester.us

Winchester is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, located 8.2 miles (13.2 km) north of downtown Boston as part of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. It is also one of the wealthiest municipalities in Massachusetts. The population was 22,970 at the 2020 United States Census.

Native Americans inhabited the area that would become Winchester for thousands of years prior to European colonization of the Americas. At the time of contact, the area was inhabited by the Naumkeag people, from whom the land that would become Winchester was purchased for the settlement of Charlestown in 1639.

From the 17th century until the middle of the 19th century, parts of Arlington, Medford, Cambridge, and Woburn comprised what is now Winchester. In the early years of the settlement, the area was informally known as Waterfield, a reference to its many ponds and to the river, which divided the central village. In its second century, the area was referred to as Black Horse Village, after the busy tavern and inn at its center. The movement toward incorporation of what, by this time, was called South Woburn was likely caused by the rise of the Whig Party in Massachusetts (History of Winchester, Massachusetts by H. S. Chapman and Bruce W. Stone, 1936, 1975).

The town’s early growth paralleled improvements in transportation. Prior to incorporation, the Middlesex Canal, linking the Merrimack River to Boston, was completed through what was then Waterfield. It flourished from 1803 to 1836, until the Boston and Lowell Railroad completed a line that neatly split the town and provided it with two stations. Able to deliver passengers as well as goods, the railroad soon superseded the canal and spurred more people to move to the area. The first church was built in 1840, the Post Office followed in 1841, and soon after incorporation town schools were started. Industries small and large followed, including the Beggs and Cobb tannery and the Winn Watch Hand factory, which would operate well into the 20th century.

By the time of the Civil War, to which Winchester lent many citizens, the need for a town water supply became apparent. Engineers convinced a skeptical public to fund a dam in the highlands to the east of town. The structure blocked the creek that flowed from the Middlesex Fells and produced the first of three reservoirs that continue to provide water today.

In the early 20th century, growth continued swiftly as Winchester evolved from its agri-industrial roots into the bedroom community it is today. A rich mix of immigrants—the Irish in the northern and eastern neighborhoods, a handful of African-Americans who flocked to the New Hope Baptist Church in the highlands, and finally Italians who came to work in the westside farms and live in the “Plains” to the east—complemented Winchester’s Yankee forebears.

Winchester has two “Zone 1” stops on the MBTA Commuter Rail Lowell Line: Wedgemere and Winchester Center. The stops are within easy walking distance of one another. The Lowell Line runs from Lowell to Boston’s North Station, where one can connect with the “T”, Boston’s subway system. Nearby Anderson Regional Transportation Center off I-93 (Commerce Way exit) holds a stop for Amtrak’s Downeaster train, going through New Hampshire, and terminating in Brunswick, Maine. While this train runs through Winchester, it does not stop at either of the town’s two train stations.

There are bus lines going through Winchester to nearby communities such as Medford, Arlington, and Cambridge. Bus route No. 134 runs between North Woburn and Wellington Station on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s (MBTA) Orange Line in Medford. Bus route No. 350 runs from the Burlington Mall to Alewife station in Cambridge on the MBTA’s Red Line. A commuter express bus runs from Cummings Park in Woburn to Boston during rush hours. Anderson Regional Transportation Center also has the Logan Express shuttle bus service to Boston’s Logan Airport every 30 minutes, and a paid shuttle service to Manchester New Hampshire Airport (reservations required in advance)

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 6.3 square miles (16.3 km), of which 6.0 square miles (15.6 km) is land and 0.2 square miles (0.6 km) is water. The total area is 3.97% water.

The town is roughly bisected by a central valley, which is the remnant of the original course of the Merrimack River. After glacial debris effectively rerouted the Merrimack north to its current location, all that remained of its original course through present day Winchester is the Aberjona River and the several ponds it feeds en route to the Mystic Lakes on Winchester’s southern border.

On its eastern third, the valley rises steeply into the wooded hills of the Middlesex Fells Reservation, in which lie the North, Middle, and South Reservoirs. The western edge of the valley yields to Arlington and Lexington heights, and the boundaries with those two towns. To the north, the town’s longest border is shared with Woburn.